QGIS Cloud: Share your maps and geodata

UZH’s QGIS Cloud is ready! In this cloud, students and researchers can publish maps and geodata, share them with others – or get inspired by others. Leyla Ciragan from the GIS Hub explains what the QGIS Cloud is and what you need to know as a user.

Leyla, could you explain what the QGIS Cloud is?
With the QGIS Cloud, we provide a platform for geodata at UZH. For example, if you have created a map with the QGIS software, you can publish it online via a plugin and share it with others. The data belonging to the map can also be easily shared and/or integrated into other projects. Importantly, I can control the visibility, i.e. with whom I want to share my data: only with my research team, my course participants or completely publicly. The visibility is an example of how we tailored the QGIS Cloud to the needs of UZH together with the developer company Sourcepole.

Why does UZH need a QGIS Cloud?
A lot of people at UZH who do not come from classic GIS disciplines such as geography or computer science deal with spatial issues. I think of linguists or social scientists. We want to give these people the opportunity to publish their webmaps easily, i.e. without programming knowledge. At the same time, we would also like to encourage (non-specialist) lecturers to use the QGIS Cloud in teaching. For example, a map could be part of a transcript of records. We chose the QGIS Cloud because QGIS is accessible to everyone as an open source solution – even if they no longer study or research at UZH. To come back to the question: Whether UZH really needs a QGIS Cloud, we want to find out exactly with this project. If there is high demand, we can expand capacities.

Who can use the QGIS Cloud?
All at UZH, because access is via the Switch edu-ID. With this ID you can register once for the QGIS Cloud and use the cloud afterwards. In order to share maps or data from the QGIS software, the QGIS Cloud Plugin is required.

What do I have to consider when using the QGIS Cloud?
Very important: data protection. I should only publicly share data that is public. If, for example, I download the tree register on the Open Data platform of the City of Zurich and display the trees on a map, this is not critical. In the case of sensitive data that I have collected myself or received from other researchers, I have to clarify exactly how I can use and publish this data. In this case for example, it may be better to share the data only within my research group.

What happens to my data when I share it in the cloud?
There is no overview page that shows me all uploaded data and maps. The data is shared via a link or a QR code, and thus, it is only accessible through the link or the QR code. And I can control, with whom I share my data. Misuse is theoretically possible, but if I think carefully about who I share the data with, I can minimize the risk of it. Furthermore, someone can work with my data, but the changes are not made to my original data, but on a copy.

Where can I find instructions or a tutorial?
We produced many video tutorials that explain various functions of the QGIS Cloud step by step in just a few minutes. This includes how I can register, how to download the QGIS plugin, how to share a map and then call it in the browser, etc.

Click here for UZH’s QGIS Cloud.